The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion
Plant is located on a 3,423 acre reservation in McCracken County
in Kentucky, approximately 15 miles west of Paducah. The Atomic
Energy Commission acquired the site in 1950. The plant was
built in 1951-1954 and has been in continuous operation since
startup. It consists of four main process buildings and is the largest
of the three DOE gaseous diffusion plants (Portsmouth and K-25),
having the capability of using 3,040 megawatts. The four major
process buildings contain 1,760 process stages, along with common
feed and product withdrawal facilities. As intended, the plant
operated mainly as a stripper plant for the Portsmouth and Oak
Ridge gaseous diffusion plants, whereby Paducah shipped products
to Portsmouth or Oak Ridge for further enrichment. Production is
ongoing at the Paducah site. In May 2001, U.S. Enrichment Corporation
(USEC) consolidated its uranium enrichment operations at Paducah.
The following year, transfer and shipping operations were also consolidated
at Paducah. They are also doing some DOE legacy cleanup. Currently,
plant management at Paducah is divided between the U.S. Enrichment
Corporation and a number of contractors including: Swift and Staley
(Infrastructure); Paducah Remediation Services (Portage and Shaw)
(Remediation Contractor); and Uranium Disposition Services (Depleted
Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Plant).